Tide offense rises to the occasion

Byron SmithThe Harrison boys soccer team celebrates after scoring a goal against Glen ridge in Thursday's North 2, Group I tournament match in Harrison. The Blue Tide won, 3-0.

HARRISON -- Stalwart defense is the traditional calling card for Harrison's boys soccer team, but the Blue Tide also displayed some offensive firepower after halftime during the second round of the North 2, Group I tournament on Thursday.

After a scoreless deadlock for the first 58 minutes, second-seeded Harrison scored three times in a 12-minute stretch to put away seventh-seeded Glen Ridge, 3-0, in Harrison. The two-time defending state champions will host No. 6 Jonathan Dayton on Monday at 2 p.m.

Glen Ridge, which stretched Harrison (19-1) all the way to extra penalty kicks in the 2006 tournament, looked like they could push the Blue Tide to the limit once again in the first half.

The Ridgers (14-5-1) controlled the ball on offense for much of the period and didn't give Harrison many scoring opportunities. On the Blue Tide's only quality chance of the half, Omar Flores had a practically open net from a few yards out in the 29th minute, but his shot hit the left crossbar when several defenders converged on him.

"In the first half they came out with a lot of fire. They worked hard, they pressured us and they were very physcial," Harrison coach Michael Rusek, Jr. said.

But Harrison persistently fed passes to leading scorer Bryan Aguilar, and the Ridgers could only contain the speedy forward for so long. Aguilar took a pass inside the box from Jerry Enciso in the 59th minute, pivoted to maintain possession in traffic, and kicked a roller in to give the Blue Tide a 1-0 lead.

In the 67th minute, Aguilar streaked down the left sideline and sent a cross to a wide-open Josue Mayanga, whose shot from in close deflected off the left crossbar into the net. Just three minutes later, Aaron Salazar completed the scoring binge by getting the rebound on his own header and sending a bicycle kick past goalie Brett O'Donnell.

Aguilar raised his offensive totals to 26 goals and 12 assists this season.

"He's the type of guy that other teams try to cover, and 80 minutes is a long time to defend a player like that. He always comes through for us," Rusek said of Aguilar.

Three goals was more than enough for Harrison, a team that now has 16 shutouts in 20 games.